Torrential rains and intense winds held up traffic coming into Lafayette from Hartsville on the Highway 10 hill last Saturday, after three utility poles owned by North Central Telephone Cooperative were blown down at about 7 p.m.

Traffic was halted and then rerouted up Ferguson Hill Road until about 10 p.m. that night.

Even before the poles came down, heavy rains had slowed traffic on the hill to a very slow crawl.

“I couldn’t hardly see to drive,” said one traveler who had come from Hartsville, who reported reducing speed to about 30 miles per hour on Highway 10, due to heavy rains. He added that the street was completely covered with debris from trees.

Tri-County Electric, which was called immediately by responding rescue workers, reported that there were no downed power lines or electricity outages due to the storm.

North Central Telephone representatives were no available for comment about the situation before press time.

LPD Officer Henry Behr, who was the only officer available for comment, was in the WalMart parking lot at the time of the storm, assessing the damage done by flying shopping carts.

“The wind caught the carts and threw them all over the place, almost all the way to Hardee’s,” reported Behr, adding that there were many vehicles damaged. In addition, said Behr, signs behind Krystal were blown into a car parked in the KFC parking lot.

It was unclear by looking at weather radar maps if the winds were straight line or rotational, said Behr.

Although much of the county got some rain that evening, the wind storm was apparently very localized.

Reports from other areas of the city indicated only light to medium rain, with little or no winds.

No other damage was reported.